KELLOGG –– Registration is open for North Idaho’s largest 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, SilverHoops 3-on-3.

The event is still two months away but with the tournament’s exponential growth over the past few years, the SilverHoops committee hopes that more people take advantage of the early-bird registration period.

Last year, the event boasted a record-164 teams, which was 20 more than the previous record – and a 53% increase from the 2021 tournament, the first year back post-COVID.

Last year, at mid-day on Saturday, there was an estimated 2,000 people hanging out at the Teeters Field courts or inside the more shady Kellogg City Park.

This year, in an effort to allow for more expected growth and spacing issues, the plan is to develop additional courts.

As an event hosted by the Silver Valley Chamber, the goal is to hold an event that is beneficial to local businesses – to that effort, SilverHoops employs a unique format where the first day of the tournament is treated as a round-robin, and Sunday is a single-elimination, seeded tournament based upon each team’s record from Saturday.

“Keeping teams around for both days is good for the vendors, sponsors, and local businesses,” committee member Ethan Wendt said.

This change has benefitted the tournament in many ways – including the way certain divisions and brackets are handled.

Over the years, the men’s age 18-30 division at SilverHoops has grown into an attraction that must be seen to be believed. In 2022, the bracket had 44 registered teams.

By the time Sunday’s championship games roll around, it becomes a war of attrition as teams have played anywhere from five to eight games by that point.

Despite the grind, you routinely hear, “This is my favorite tourney,” from the event’s faithful – a list that continues to grow each summer.

“SilverHoops weekend to me always feels like a family reunion,” organizer Gus Colburn said. “I always run into friends, teammates, coaches, and old opponents that I haven't seen in forever. Basketball tradition runs very deep in the Silver Valley, and it is always a ton of fun seeing who shows up to hoop or spectate every year.”

Wendt also mentioned that they are looking for additional vendors for this year’s tournament – and that once again, the city pool will open and free for anyone to use.

SilverHoops is sponsored by the businesses of the Silver Valley community, but this year’s major sponsors are Dave Smith and Grocery Outlet.

For more information or to get your team registered, please visit www.silverhoops3on3.com.

Early-bird registration closes July 1, and team fees increase by $15.

For more information on the tournament, or sign up as a vendor call the Silver Valley Chamber office at (208) 784-0821.

The SilverHoops 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament is July 29-30.